Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union district vice-president Greg Sharp told International Longwall News about 140 workers walked off the job on Friday morning and formed a peaceful protest line at the mine’s entrance.

Sharp said the union and its members were not satisfied with the final offer from Resource Pacific, which removes bonus clauses from the main agreement, changes stand-down provisions and sick leave bonuses and offers a 4% pay rise over three years.

“In anyone’s language that’s a poor offer … we are not going to accept these new workplace laws they are trying to put in,” Sharp said.

“These miners have gone through the tough times when this pit was a small, un-capitalised operation and they’ve worked hard to get this longwall operating … some of the conditions the company is offering are an insult.”

Sharp said given the relatively buoyant mining conditions being experienced at the moment, the company should come back to the table with a better deal for its workers.

Resource Pacific managing director told ILN the company had a policy of “no press comment” during a collective bargaining process.